“The geographic and climatic environment of the Japanese archipelago is unique on Earth. The climate is temperate and…
“The geographic and climatic environment of the Japanese archipelago is unique on Earth. The climate is temperate and subtropical, with four distinct seasons. And it is surrounded by sea. No other country in the world has an environment like this. Nearby china is largely a desert climate, and South America is mostly tropical forest. In short, no other country has seasons with so many subtle nuances, or the same balance between sea, mountains and rivers. When you go to the sea, you can see all sorts of fish. And when you go to the mountains, there are lots of acorns and nuts. civilizations generally arise in order to combat hostile natural conditions. Take the culture of the Nile delta for example: civilization developed by working to counteract nature in order to domesticate it. The Japanese, on the other hand, have never needed to domesticate nature in order to survive: they simply had to show gratitude for its generosity, by dedicating prayers to nature. On the intellectual level, the Japanese evolved sufficiently. But since they never needed to move from hunting to agriculture, the Neolithic period lasted much longer here than elsewhere. Life in this peculiar environment shaped the Japanese sensibility. Our language has many more words that express many more nuances of colors and different aspects of nature than other languages. The fine precision of the Japanese sensibility comes from this History.”— Hiroshi Sugimoto, Hiroshi Sugimoto on the end of the world, by Crash redaction